Josephine burns
by Behindtheseen
Summary: Kade finds a baby on Heatwave and has to care for her. unknown to him who she belonged to. K for fight scene.
1. Chapter 1

Josephine burns

It was Thursday, 12th, day of the Tech festival on Griffin Rock. People were coming on boats to see and participate. One lady walks off with a basket in her arms. In it a baby slept. Concern and fear forced her into the crowd, disappearing from view.

Heatwave sat in his vehicle mode grumbling as kids climbed on him with sticky fingers. He looked over and glared at Kade as he made a mess eating a roasted garlic cheese burger. A boy climbs on his window, blocking his view of a hooded figure, and bends his mirror. As he growled he didn't feel a baby basket be placed on his back. The figure kisses the baby's nose and climbs off. She takes a look back with a tear in her eye, before adding to the mass of people.

An half hour later Kade walks up to him. "Okay kids, time for everyone to leave." he says motioning them off.

"You're late." Heatwave grumbled.

"Like that's a thing." Kade jokes.

"Just make sure there's no more kids." Kade walks around and climbs up. He stops. "What? Who is it?" Heatwave asks as he felt something get lifted off.

Kade walks over to the driver side and hold it up, "Heatwave, someone left a gift." he opens the door and slides the basket into the seat next to him. Heatwave noticed that the "gift" was a baby girl no older than a few weeks old. Kade buckles her basket in and makes him drive slow.

"She's so cute! Can I hold her?" Blades asked staring at her tiny form.

"No. You might accidentally squish her." Kade snaps.

"I didn't squish the Robo-baby." he protests.

"Sorry, Blades, but real babies are twice as fragile at the Robo-baby." Chief Burns says handing Kade a bottle. "Besides, Kade found her."

"She was on my roof." Heatwave says with a light snarl.

"I'll look up her prints." he said putting some ink and paper on her tiny foot.

"I did not know she had a criminal record." Chase comments looking at him.

The Chief smiles as he pulled it off, "Foot prints, Chase, hospitals keep records of all babies born where and to whom."

"Ah. But if she proceeds to do criminal acts, I will make sure she has one."

"What should we call her?" Blades asks.

"Her parents probably already named her, Blades." Graham says wiggling his finger in her tiny face. The bots awed when she grabs it and started playing with him.

Everyone was sitting in the TV room when Chief Burns had some news. "What's her name?" Boulder asked excited.

Chief Burns smiles and reads the paper he held, "She is, Josephine Erica Willis. She was born in Alistair General Hospital on the Mainland to Mr. and Mrs. Willis."

"Thank goodness, we can call them and ask if they know how to calm her down." Heatwave says as she starts to cry.

"I'm calling now!" Chief Burns shouts over her shrieking.

"How can something so small, be so loud?" Heatwave asks covering his audio receptors.

Blades turns to him, "What!? I can't hear you, Heatwave, the baby's too loud!"

Heatwave snarls grumpily, then turns to Kade, "Calm her down!"

Kade bounces her in his arms, "Shh... Calm down and Kade-y wade-y will give you a wowepop." she shrieks louder.

Danny shouts at him, "Stop talking, you're making it worse!"

"Son, I think she wants her binky." Chief Burns guessed.

"And I thought Shriekers were loud!" Boulder comments covering his ears.

Kade gets up and starts heading to his room, "I'll just take her somewhere quiet!" he walks up the stairs and her shrieking quiets with distance.

Blades uncovers his ears, "Is it over?"

Heatwave looks up at the ceiling, "Nope."

"At least she's quieter." Cody states in relief. Danny presses play on the remote and the movie they were watching resumes.

After a few minute, Heatwave looks up, "Hey, the crying stopped."

"That's not always a good sign." Blades said quoting Cody.

"I'll check on them." Cody says getting off of Boulder's lap. He hurries up the stairs. He runs back down a second later, "Guys, stop the movie and come listen!" the Burns and bots look at each other, then get up. Danny, Graham, and their dad follow Cody to Kade's door, while the bots positioned themselves near Kade's window outside.

They lean in and faintly hear Kade singing, "...rest your eyes, the cold winds blow. Stay by me, and hold on tight. For you're not alone, in this frozen world. When the air grows warm, you will leave. But before then, I'll protect you."

Blades pulls back and whispers, "He sounds better without Doc Greene's auto tuner."

"I didn't even know he could sing." Heatwave whispered still in awe.

"At least she's happy now." Boulder comments listening to the baby cooing.

Kade opens his curtains and glares at them, "You guys stink at whispering."

"Can you sing it again? I didn't have my camera with me." Blades said running off.

"Don't make me move the dartboard over to the window." he threatened.

Heatwave smirks, "You know that I'll try to get you to sing more often, right?"

"Just try me."

Blades comes running back, "I got it!"

Kade rolls his eyes and shuts the blinds, "Not gonna happen, Blades."

Blades sticks out his bottom lip, "But, it's charged and ready."

"Not... gonna... happen."

"Come on guys, let's get back to the movie." Boulder says leaving the group. After a few seconds, the others follow.

The hooded figure enters a motel room and pulls down her hood. Her cellphone rings. Pulling it from her pocket she puts it to her ear, "Yes?"

a deep angry male voice asks, "Rebecca, where are you?"

she moves a brown curl away from her face, "I'm um... at home."

"I'm standing in our house and looking at the empty stove. You are not home, and neither is my baby."

"I-I I'm at the store." she says cringing as he shouts at her.

Suddenly he stops, "Sorry, sweety, someone's calling me." he says hanging up. He clicks the contact button, "Hello?"

Chief Burns voice asks, "Is this Mr. and Mrs. Willis?"

"This is Mr. Willis, who's asking?"

"Chief Burns of Griffin Rock, do you have a baby girl named Josephine?"

a smile curls his lip, "You found my baby?"

"Do you want to pick her up?"

"Yes. I'll be there soon." he hangs up. Grabbing his keys he heads out the door, "I knew she's do something stupid."

Rebecca waited for his call in anxious fear. Twenty minutes in she realizes that this was a pointless act, he was coming. She gets off her hotel bed and leaves for the door. She stops with her hand on the knob, fear gripping her, "What if Kade doesn't remember me?" she asked out loud. Taking a deep breath she thinks aloud, "I just hope I'm not too late." and pushes the door open.


	2. Chapter 2

Josephine Burns

chapter 2

Kade blows on Josephine's bare belly and makes her giggle. He looks at Heatwave's jealous face, "Don't tell me you want to play with her next, Heatwave. I thought you didn't like little kids touching you."

"I got over it." Heatwave says rolling his optics.

"You know, you could be a great uncle." Kade compliments.

"You really think... we're not even related." Heatwave retorts. Kade smiles and returns to playing with the baby. He stops when a knock was heard on the front door. Kade looks around and hands the baby to Heatwave. Walking up to the door he opens it. Heatwave stiffens when he noticed a young lady, he slightly dropped his act when Kade called her by name. "R-Rebecca Kennise... What are you doing here?" Kade lets her in, "I haven't seen you since High school."

she walks in and smiles at him, "Hi, Kade. I-I just wanted to visit." she says rubbing her arm nervously.

Kade noticed the bruise under her sleeve as it slid up, "What's this?" he asked pointing at it.

"Um... nothing." she lies.

"Here, I'll get an ice pack, you sit on the couch." Kade orders pointing at the couch. She sits down and noticed Heatwave standing in the garage. Kade comes back when the baby starts crying, "Heatwave, hand me the baby." Heatwave lowers his hand and hands her to him. Kade picks her up and hands Rebecca the ice pack, "So, how are you doing?" he asks bouncing the baby.

"Better. Um... is she yours?" she asks as he sits next to her.

"No, someone left her on my robot. My dad called this little one's dad and said that he'll be here soon."

"Oh... she's adorable." her eyes lower.

"Okay, Rebecca, what's wrong? I know you, something's off."

she looks up with tears, "Kade, I put her on your firetruck to protect her, I couldn't trust Josephine to anyone else."

Heatwave drops his act and asks, "Why?"

too distracted with her emotions she answers, "My name is Mrs. Rebecca Willis, I ran away from my husband with our baby to keep him from hurting us." she lifts her shirt to reveal a bruised and cracked rib, "He gave me this last week." putting it down she begs, "Please keep her away from him."

Kade blinks for a moment, then hands her the baby. Getting up, he turns towards her, "Rebecca, I promise to protect you, no matter the cost."

Heatwave's mouth drops open at this change in Kade's tone, it was scary. Rebecca stands up and hugs Kade, "Thank you, Kade." she sits back down and asks, "But, how are you going to do it? It only took me an hour to get here, and my husband had a twenty minute head start before I came here."

Kade puts his hand on his chin in thought, looking down at her, then smiles, "I know a place."

"Would you like me to help?" Heatwave asked in a robotic tone.

Kade turns to Heatwave, "No, I can't have you tagging along, sorry, Heatwave. But, you can call me when he comes." Kade motions Rebecca to follow him down one of the tunnels. She stayed close to his heels through the maze. Heatwave stood at the entrance, hoping Kade knew what he was doing.

Chief Burns picks up Mr. Willis with Chase. He smiles, "You know, my eldest son is getting quite attached to Josephine. She is the sweetest little thing I've ever met. I'll call ahead." he taps his com, "Cody, let the baby and Kade know that we're coming with her father."

"Okay, I'll tell them." Cody hangs up.

"Are you excited to see your baby girl?" Chief Burns asked taking a small glance at his passenger.

"I'll just be happy if I can pry her away from your son. By the way, what's his name?"

"Kade." Chief Burns said with a smile. Chase could feel Mr. Willis's hand squeeze the armrest as if Kade's name was evil.

He puts on a fake smile, "So, Chief, did you find my wife?"

"Sorry, we haven't been able to locate her." he said in a disappointed tone. Chase could feel another squeeze.

"I just hope I can find her. She probably needs alone time." he said pretending to be calm.

"Has this ever happened before?"

"No, but after a little counseling it might stop."

"Do you know why someone might bring your baby here?"

he thinks for a moment, then states, "My wife is a bit paranoid. She had been in a kidnapping once as a kid. I suspect that hiding Josephine in this place would trick her into thinking that it won't happen again."

"Sounds serious."

"Nothing I can't fix."

Cody walks down the stairs and sees Heatwave sitting in deep thought, "Hey, Heatwave."

"Hey, Cody."

"Something wrong?"

"Yeah, Kade and Rebecca took the tunnels...

"Rebecca?"

"Josephine's mom. Anyway, I just hope Kade knows what he's doing."

"Wait, Josephine's mom came? Why is she here, why did..."

"Kade and her went into the tunnels to hide her and the baby. You should have seen her bruise, it was the size of a puppy. She claimed that her husband did it."

Cody thinks for a moment, "She was bruised?"

"And had a broken rib."

"Did she know Kade?"

"Know him? She met him in High school."

"Then the good news I had, just turned bad. Dad's on his way with Mr. Willis." Cody said taking a peak out the window.

"I'll let Kade know." Heatwave gets up and taps his com, "Kade, he's on his way."

Kade's voice cracks through, "I'll be there soon."

Chief Burns parks inside the firehouse. Chase opens his doors and lets them out. "Hey dad." Cody said in a slight worried tone, trying to hide what he knew.

"Where's Kade and Josephine?" Chief Burns asked looking around.

"I just put her to bed." Kade said walking into the garage from upstairs. Mr. Willis smiles and shakes Kade's hand when Chief Burns introduces them. In his mind he figured that Kade was dumb enough to hand him Josephine without question, "Kade, I'm so glad you found her and kept my baby safe. Can I see my little girl?" he asked.

Kade rubs the back of his head, "Well, I don't think it's a good idea. The little screamer gets really loud when she's cranky."

"Okay, I think I can wait. Do you have coffee?" he asked looking at Chief Burns. He nods and leads him to the kitchen.

Heatwave looks down at Kade, "So, what exactly is your plan?"

"Kade has a plan?" Chase asked transforming to bot mode.

"Yeah, I have a plan. Get him to confess."

"How do you know that Rebecca's not playing you?" Heatwave asked sceptically.

"Who is Rebecca?" Chase asked.

"Mrs. Willis." Cody explained.

Kade looks at Heatwave, "In high school, Rebecca got into a lot of bad relationships. I was one of her few friends. She couldn't fake anything, even if she tried. If I hadn't met her back then, she would be dead from suicide." he looks down with crossed arms.

"That... actually explains a lot." Heatwave comments.

"I believe I am out of the loop. String or otherwise." Chase comments, emphasizing his confusion. Kade turns on his heel and walks towards the kitchen.


	3. Chapter 3

Josephine Burns

chapter 3

"And so when... Kade! Your dad told me a lot about how you handled my kid. It's kinda sad that you're not mine."

"Can I stop you right there? Cause I have something to ask you."

"I won't lie, I promise." he said taking a sip.

"Did you break Rebecca's rib?"

he spits it out in surprise and whips his head around, "How..." he takes a clears his throat, "Who's this Rebecca?" he asked attempting to not know anything.

"Kade, who's Rebecca?" Chief Burns asked grabbing a rag and handing it to Mr. Willis.

"Let me change that, did you break your wife's rib?" he asked handing him a picture of him and Rebecca.

"Kade, how would you know if he did that?" his dad asked getting more confused, "Where did you get that picture?"

"She put Josephine on Heatwave this morning. Something scared her more and she came here. She showed me the bruise."

Mr. Willis composes himself and looks at Kade, handing him the picture, "My wife's name is Jenny, and I never, never laid a finger on her."

"Kade, what has gotten into you?" he asks trying to keep his cool.

"I have Josephine where you can't find her, safe with her mom..." Kade stops taking when Mr. Willis smashes the cup on the table.

"Where did you send her?" he growled. Chief Burns quickly puts down his cup and pops open his Mace holder.

Kade gets up in his face, "If you want her back, be nice."

"Bring them here, or you'll know what my mean side looks like." he threatened.

Kade backs up and holds up his fists, "I can handle myself." he looks at his dad, "Call the hospital."

"Kade, back down, you don't know what you're doing." Chief Burns said trying to motion him to the door.

"Listen to your father, it'll save you the trip."

"You hurt her, I hurt you." Kade growled.

Chief Burns runs over to the phone and taps some keys, "This is Chief Burns, you might want to hurry."

All the kids ran up to the kitchen when a clear crack could be heard. They stop at the door and stare at Mr. Willis on the floor as he cowers in the corner with a bloody lip. "What's going on?" Danny asked as their dad attempted to keep them out.

"Kade's completely loosing it. I think we need to keep our distance."

"Kade!" Cody runs over and grabs his brother's arm, "I think he's had enough."

Kade relaxes and pats Cody on the head, "Get help." he turns around and shows everyone his bruised jaw, "Get this garbage out of my sight."

"Coward! Is that all you got?" he shouts as he slowly got up, wiping the blood off his lip. Kade gives him his death glare, making him back off. He turns and walks off. Mr. Willis slides back into the corner and stays until the ambulance arrived.

"Rebecca? It's okay to come out." Kade said walking into the cave. She gets up and sees him.

She gasps, "Kade? Are you okay?"

Kade smiles, "Yeah. I'm actually a lot better then your husband."

she hugs him and feels him winch, "Are you sure?" he motions for her to follow and takes her by the hand. She bounces her baby as they enter the bunker. She sees her husband with paramedics patching him up and gasps, "Kade? Why is he here?"

"Don't worry, I'll sit nearby." he said motioning her to sit in front of Heatwave. She sits and hands Kade the baby. He sits on the couch and bounces the baby. Her husband sits in a chair in front of Chase. After a few hours of talking, and growls from Heatwave, they get up and walk up to Kade, who had fallen asleep. "Kade?" Rebecca asked shaking him awake.

"Yeah?" he asked sleepily.

"We've made our decision." he gets up and starts handing her the baby, she shakes her head, "No. We want you to take care of her."

"You win, Kade Burns." he said refusing to look him in the eye, "Are you happy now?"

Kade nods, "Yeah, now that I know that things are getting better."

his fist relaxes and he crosses his arms, "Just take care of her."

Chief Burns walks over and helps them climb into Chase, "Here, I'll take you two to port." and takes off a minute later.

Heatwave looks down at Kade, "You know, I think I'm seeing what Optimus sees in you."

Kade holds Josephine to his face, "You see it too, don't you, Joey-woey?"

"And you just lost it."

"Kade?" Rebecca comes running over to him, "I just want to say thank you."

Kade hugs her with his free arm, "You're welcome. Just get your lives on track. Call me when you have."

she looks up at his kind eyes, "I will." he lets go and she leaves with Chief Burns.

Heatwave smiles, "I thought you said that we'd never see your nice side again."

Kade looks up at him and smiles, "I never said never."

"Haley's going to have a lot of questions when she sees her." Danny comments after coming over.

He looks at her, "Yeah. I'll just tell her that she's temporary."

"Yeah... don't."

Eight months later...

Kade comes out of the bunker with Josephine in his arms and a clothes pin on his nose, "She's clean and stink free."

"We can still smell it." Heatwave snarled with a hand over his nose and mouth, "Did you have to change her diaper in the bunker?"

he pulls the pin off his face and smirks up at him, "I wasn't going to do it in my room." Heatwave snarls again.

"Kade! Rebecca's calling!" Cody shouts from the top of the stairs.

Kade freezes, then answers back, "Now?"

"What do I tell her?"

Kade thinks for a minute, then answers, "Tell her that we'll meet her at the docks."

They stood at the foot of the boat dock and wait as Rebecca come off the boat. She walks up to the Burns, and smiles at Kade, "Thank you."

Kade hands her the baby, "Here. I kept her fed, warm, clean, and squished free."

"Again, thank you."

"What happened to your husband?" Danny asked.

"I divorced him and won her in the case. She'll be safe with me." she said.

"I kinda hoped that he would have changed." Cody says standing next to Blades.

She looks at him, "I did too, but a few months isn't going to change years of abuse."

Cody comes over with a basket, "True. Here, don't forget these. She likes playing with them."

she pulls out a toy Boulder and smiles, "I won't forget."

Kade leans in close to Josephine's face, "Kade-y wade-y has to let you go now." she coos and tries grabbing his face. He pushes her hands away, "I'll miss you too."

"We'll visit once a year." Rebecca promises.

Kade stands up, "I'd love that." She leave with a wave of their hands. Once out of ear shot, he turns and smiles with tears in his eyes, unable to hide them, "Come on guys, let's go home."

Chief Burns pats him on the shoulder, "You did good son."

"I just wished I could do more."

he hugs him, "Me too, son. Me too."


End file.
